Client story Insight ensures Merseyrail’s network security remains on track
By Insight UK / 15 Jul 2020 / Topics: Cloud
By Insight UK / 15 Jul 2020 / Topics: Cloud
Merseyrail is one of the most reliable rail networks in the UK, with consistently high scores for passenger satisfaction and national awards for customer service. It carries over 100,000 passengers on an average weekday and manages Liverpool Central station, one of the busiest outside of London.
Merseyrail was concerned that it did not have full visibility of its IT security operations. The company also had concerns around security and potential data breaches and wanted to ensure it was able to comply with GDPR regulations.
Merseyrail wanted to address the fact that its IT team was spending a lot of time monitoring its security event logs manually, in a reactive way. This was putting the department under strain and preventing them from working on other, value-generating projects. Merseyrail wanted to find a way to outsource security monitoring while maintaining the option for the in-house IT team to resolve any issues.
Having previously worked with Insight on several project implementations, Merseyrail was confident that Insight was the right technology partner to support them in managing security and putting in place a solution quickly and effectively.
“Insight has taken a huge burden away from our IT team. We remain confident that security issues will be quickly spotted, and that customer data is safe. We’re also able to focus on adding value through transformational projects, allowing us to deliver a modern, digital experience for our customers.”
Ian Johnson IT Manager, Merseyrail
Insight has a long-standing relationship with Merseyrail and, before working on this particular project, was already familiar with its IT and database infrastructure.
After considering Merseyrail’s requirements, Insight proposed Foresite Provision Managed Service - Monitor and Alerting, to monitor its network including its Azure and Barracuda platforms. The Foresite solution identifies any risks through a remote end-user device monitoring system.
Insight recommended this particular solution for its event management monitoring capabilities. The system flags security incidents to Insight (via Foresite) enabling Insight to go back to Merseyrail and alert them. Merseyrail wanted to have the option to fix any issues that were identified themselves, and this solution provides that flexibility.
Once the solution was agreed upon, Insight worked closely with Foresite to implement it. Regular checks were made along the way to ensure that the system was identifying any items that would be considered security alerts for the client. Once implementation was complete, Insight onboarded the Merseyrail IT team.
The project was completed within the set timeline – giving the additional benefit that Merseyrail was able to take advantage of Foresite’s seasonal discount.
Merseyrail now has the visibility of its network that it was looking for. Insight’s solution has also enabled Merseyrail to outsource the management of its security monitoring across its network, removing a significant burden from Merseyrail’s IT team. This both avoids costly manual processes and frees up the team to work on transformational IT projects.
As a result of outsourcing its monitoring, Merseyrail has greater confidence that issues get identified and dealt with swiftly. The timely identification of potential problems is vital as the company in avoiding potential security issues, including website downtime and data breaches.
Merseyrail, a commuter rail network serving Liverpool and the surrounding Liverpool City Region, was looking for a way to outsource its network security monitoring.
Insight delivered a solution that would automatically monitor Merseyrail’s on-premise and cloud infrastructure, and identify any risks from devices connected to the network. Insight, in partnership with Foresite Provision Managed Services, picks up any issues flagged by the monitoring system and immediately alerts the Merseyrail IT team – providing them the option to resolve the problems themselves.
